When you start becoming known for something among your people, you want to embody those characteristics even more.
People who fall in love with you are dangerous, for you.
I don’t mean romantically, friendships too.
When people start idolizing you, they project their fantasies onto you, they write off and explain away your weaknesses, they make you into something far more than you are, and worse of all– you’ll want to believe it.
If they catch you early enough in your becoming-who-you-are process, you will believe it.
I want to share exactly why this is a garbage way to live, but to do that– I need to give you specifics.
So let’s look at my life.
In my social group– these people have already made up their mind about me. Not just who I am today, they’ve decided they “know” who I always was. They think I’ve never been shy, always been full of myself, they think I’m smarter than most people and that people aren’t as “special” as I am.
They love who they think I am.
No matter what I say or do, this is the character they want to see– because it’s the mirror image they aspire for themselves.
Of course, I know the actual truth– being that, I too was once a lost melancholic depresso loser who couldn’t conquer basic responsibilities til his mid-to late 20s. I know this…. but they couldn’t comprehend it (despite me telling them).
THEY love me as a fantasy, as an escape.
Here is why this all matters for you.
People will always project onto you, good and bad traits, neither matter. You have to be resistant AF and reject all of it.
The only way to live an enjoyable life is to connect with your life, authentically.
The biggest danger is you start believing others surface definitions and the second you do— it’s a race to hitting rock bottom.
They’re bad for your ego. They’re bad for your soul.
Get rid of worshippers.
My close friends know I’m a dumbass. They know my flaws, weaknesses, strengths, principles, they know me as human.
If you can’t be a soul around another soul, what you have isn’t a real relationship. The point is this, whether negative or positive, only you should fill your own cup.
Decide what you stand for, and don’t let others define you.
Thinking you’re better than others leads to a pathetic and lonely life. Everyone has something, good and bad. Unique and common.
Join humanity, reject superiority.
This is how you live a well lived life.
–FOOL